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Ilive Reader : Requests

Started by ilive, March 07, 2010, 11:10:49 AM

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ilive

Hi everybody

After 6 years without playing SC4, I'm back on this fantastic game.  And so I decided to do some changes/improvements to the Reader... even if I'm not really sure that someone uses it  :D
Last version of this tool was 0.93...I hope I will able to reach version 1.0  ;)

At the moment, I only work on the UI and bug fixes. But requests on new features are welcomed ...

Thanks to use this thread for requests...

Ilive

MandelSoft

Great news, Ilive! I hope I can test out the new version soon  ;)
Lurk mode: ACTIVE

io_bg

Welcome back! :thumbsup: Looking forward to the new version!
Visit my MD, The region of Pirgos!
Last updated: 28 November

un1

Welcome back!  ;D Great news too, can't wait for the release!  ;D Great work too. :thumbsup:

pagenotfound

Im back baby! Everybody do the Bendah!

Blue Lightning

Hey, its Ilive! Welcome back! &apls

If you really want to know, Reader is still being used widely for modding. And its great to see you're working on it again!  :thumbsup:
Also known as Wahrheit

Occasionally lurks.

RHW Project

alj

This is terrific news. And yes, the ilive Reader is used!

thingfishs

wow, cool :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Rest assured reader gets plenty of use, it's an essential tool. But possibility of even further improvements is some great unexpected news, add me to the queue.
Good to hear you saw sense and came back. ;)

Tarkus

ilive, it's absolutely fantastic to see you back here--the Reader is still the standard-bearer tool for the modding community here, and I really don't know what I'd do without it.  I'm absolutely ecstatic to see there's a new version in the works here! :thumbsup:

-Alex

Jonathan

Wow, this is more than fantastic!!! Not only are you back but so are you bringing the reader as a bonus :)
I have always wanted to see you active, I got to SC4 after you dissapeared I think, if you had not made the Reader, I guarantee that no one would be here 6 years on.
I don't have the words to say, except Welcome Back!!!!!!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Jonathan

vester

Its good to see you back working on the Reader.

Usesing it a lot doing trains and trams:
Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3 and Vol 4

RippleJet

Quote from: ilive on March 07, 2010, 11:10:49 AM
After 6 years without playing SC4, I'm back on this fantastic game.  And so I decided to do some changes/improvements to the Reader... even if I'm not really sure that someone uses it  :D

Without Reader we certainly wouldn't have been playing this game after 6 years...
Thanks to Reader (and some other tools from another Toolman) I'm sure we will still be enjoying this game 6 years from now...

Welcome back, ilive, this will be a day to remember! :thumbsup:

dedgren

Wow!  Just wow.

What more can anyone really say, ilive?  The Reader is why we are still here talking about what is possible in this game today.  Other great toolmakers have come along, but without what you did for the community first, well...

I just can't imagine where this will go from here.


David
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

metarvo

Ilive, it really is you!  It's good to see you back around.  I'm looking forward to the new version of the Reader.  :)
Find my power line BAT thread here.
Check out the Noro Cooperative.  What are you waiting for?  It even has electricity.
Want more? Try here.  For even more electrical goodies, look here.
Here are some rural power lines.

z

Welcome back!   &apls  &apls  &apls

I doubt that I would have even gotten into modding if it weren't for that wonderful Reader of yours, which made it so easy.

Andreas

What a wonderful surprise indeed - welcome back, ilive! :)

I've been using the Reader since the very beginning of my modding career, and even though other tools have entered the arena, the Reader is still one of the most valuable tools if you really need to get to the core elements of modding. Some things might take a bit longer, but you always have full control over what you're doing, and it has been the key to most of the popular mods that are around today.

When it comes to new or improved features, I can surely think up one thing or another; one item that has been particiularily high on my list is a batch tool for mass-replacing IDs or other values in properties of single or several different files - would surely make one or another modding task a lot easier.

But please do not ruin your wonderful tool with those hideous ribbons - I absolutely loath that design...
Andreas

Bobbi

Welcome back! :thumbsup:
This is a essential tool for many SC4 players, it gives a new life to SC4. :thumbsup:

From those screenshots, I guess you used VC++ MFC to program it, not .NET Framework. $%Grinno$%
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new version. :thumbsup:

2010.8.4 - I get on SC4D with PSP. So cool.:D
2010.8.14 - I can get on the Internet at home.:)

Silur


xxdita

If you need anyone to break test the new Reader, I'd gladly volunteer.

And it is great to have you here iLive!

cogeo

#19
Wow, this is wonderful news! iLive Reader has been the "mainstream" SC4 modding tool for years, and definitely still is. So it's absolutely terrific to hear that a new version is being prepared.

As for requests about new features and fixes, here are my proposals:
- First of all, you may be surprised to hear that my first and foremost request is not about a new feature, but instead dropping a feature! And it's quite radical too! More specifically, I think the document list feature (the left third of the screen) must go, and instead make the program a standard SDI (Single Document Interface) or MDI (Multiple Document Interface) application. This takes up about a third of the screen, and to my opinion serves really nothing. All of the times I needed to work with multiple files I ended up opening multiple instances of the reader. It's completely impractical having opened and browsing, say, simcity_1.dat and working on another file in the same instance of the Reader. Refocusing on simcity_1.dat causes repeated filling of the list, like "flickering" (I regard this as a "bug"), and then you have to locate again the files you were focused on. So I have used the Reader basically as an SDI application; no problem with this, as the copy-and-paste feature works accross multiple instances of the program. It would also be OK to make it a standard MDI application instead, but I think that since the reader is currently actually SDI, it would be easier to make it SDI. In either case the document-list feature isn't really helpful to the user. It might be best to open a poll about this (eg with three options, Leave it As Is, Make it SDI, Make it MDI) and ask users about their experiences and the way they work. It would also be interesting to let us know why the Reader was made like that (ie a rather weird SDI application, with a document-list feature, neither pure SDI nor pure MDI) and how you expected the users to make use of it. I know, you have put a lot of work into this, so you may not look favorably into axing it, but I think it doesn't help at all. If you finally make it MDI, it would be great to allow multiple views (windows) of the same document (yes!). It is offered by default anyway, and would be extremely useful for browsing simcity_1.dat (and large .dats in general). And of course, the "Fill the List" button should go as well (users ALWAYS have to click this). Let's see what others users think.
- This has to do with performance/resources usage (doesn't concern "features"), but I would like to propose it too. Please consider changing the main list view, ie remove the "HASSTRINGS" style, and use callback items instead. Instead of "filling the list", you need to specify a callback function that tells the system what to display for each item. Currently, for each exemplar for example, the list contains a copy of the string "Exemplar file" for every single exemplar! By using callback items, you actually store very little information in the list, like the item state and icon, but basically an application-defined "LPARAM" (as usual in Windows) which you can define to be, say, a direct pointer to the item (exemplar or what), for fast access. Apart from the fewer resources, this has additional benefits, like no need for "syncronization" when you have multiple views, as all views point to the same data (I think invalidating the window(s) is enough, as this would force a redisplay, again calling the callback function for the items that are visible).
- Something that's really frustrating, is the way long lines in the exemplars' properties are displayed. The information, of course, doesn't fit there, so the user can't see the whole line. Maybe add tooltips, displayed when the cursor is hovered over the property for 1-2 seconds. The tooltips should be multi-line (otherwise they wouldn't fit on the screen too), and ideally you would have to make sure that the whole tooptip is being displayed (use some text-metric thing). Also it would be best to use a case-specific approach here, eg the Transit Switch Point property should be diaplayed in rows of 4 bytes each.
- I may disappoint you again, but I would propose that the "Themes" (the new feature) be dropped as well. I had used it too, in version 1.00 of my program (SC4 Model Tweaker, LEX), but users didn't like it, so I reverted to the OS default. And this is preferable to most users, as under Vista for example, the application will feature the "Aero" look. Making it looking like an ex Version of MS-Office or Visual Studio isn't really beneficial.
- Would it be too much to ask you to make the program ask the user to save the (modified) document before exiting? I know this is a lot of work (requires addinf a GetDocument()->SetModifiedFlag() command in EVERY operation that modifies the document) but it would be nice.
- Another feature I don't like very much is the "Apply" button next the "Values as text" box in the Property Editor dialog. This is something non-standard, and I often forget to click it. The dialog preferably should have an OK and a Cancel button at the bottom, not Apply and Cancel; two "Apply" buttons in the same dialog are rather confusing. The Apply button (the one next to box) could remain, but its meaning should be slightly modifed, ie its sole operation should be to modify the values in the list (make them the same as the ones in the box). The OK button (at the bottom) should assign the property the values IN THE BOX, and this without having to click Apply (changing the values in the list modifies the ones in the box anyway).

Don't get very angry with me, please!  &Thk/(

I have a question too. Which S3D library are you using in this new version? I used the old good S3D.DLL in my program, but had compatibility issues with the newer MFC versions (crashes under Vista). It uses MFC42.DLL. Also it's single-byte, while my program is unicode (it has to be, because of the listview control). Also who made S3D.DLL, was it you? Otherwise can we contact him/her? Ideally I should get the source code (not included in the reader's source in sourceforge) or else the library in OBJ/LIB format (compiled with the new tools and in unicode format).

I'll be watching this thread with great interest.

Again, Welcome back!